31 March, 2015
News and current affairs from Romania
Newsroom, 31.03.2015, 11:59
Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa meets today in Bucharest General Philip Breedlove, supreme allied commander in Europe. The agenda of talks includes the security situation in Ukraine, the NATO action plan for increasing operational capability, as well as the alliance mission in Afghanistan. General Breedlove is also scheduled to meet the head of state, Klaus Iohannis. Yesterday in Bucharest, Romanian officials met members of the US Congress and officials from the State Department. The Romanian authorities emphasized developing the economic side of the strategic partnership. President Iohannis said Bucharest wants the US to rise to the ranks of the top ten investors in Romania.
Romania’s Constitutional Court will debate on 8 April the case against Dan Sova, Social Democratic senator. The magistrates will be debating the briefs filed by President Klaus Iohannis on behalf of the Liberal Party, and the Higher Council of Magistrates on possible conflicts of interest between the judicial and legislative branches in the senator’s case. Last week, the Senate rejected the injunction to lift the senator’s immunity, invoking lack of a quorum. Sova is under investigation for abuse of office while he was a former minister of transportation. The charges emerged in an investigation against two state run energy companies. Last week, protests were staged in Bucharest and other major Romanian cities against the way in which members of parliament use their immunity to sidestep legal accountability.
The bills for the new tax code and the procedural code for it are under debate in the Romanian Senate’s budget committee starting today. On Monday, the new major law proposals were rejected by the Fiscal Council, which claimed they would cause major budget imbalance. The Liberal opposition announced it would propose a large number of amendments during the debates. By contrast, the government claims that the new codes would encourage economic growth. The major changes include a reduction of state health insurance contributions and the single tax rate, as well as of the VAT and excises.
The film Closer to the Moon, by Romanian director Nae Caranfil, won 9 awards at the Gopo Award Gala for Romanian cinematography. Among others, it won the best feature length film, best script and best director awards. The best leading actor and best leading actress were won by Florin Piersic Junior and Ofelia Popii for their parts in Quod Erat Demonstrandum by Andrei Gruzsnickzki. Actress Coca Bloos was granted the lifetime achievement award.
Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, seeded third in the world, qualified for the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Miami, Fl., with prizes totaling 5.4 million dollars, after defeating 6-3, 7-5 Italian player Flavia Pennetta, seeded 15th. This is the first time when Halep makes it to this stage of the Miami tournament. She faces against US player Sloane Stephens, ranked 45th. The two have played four times together so far, each winning two matches. So far, Halep has had an excellent season, winning for the first time in her career the Indian Wells tournament. Among the players qualifying for the quarterfinals in Miami were also Romanian Horia Tecau and Dutch Jean-Julien Rojer, who will pair up to play in the doubles against US couple John Isner/ Sam Querrey.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is tomorrow on an official visit to Romania. The president will meet the Romanian head of state, Klaus Iohannis, and PM Victor Ponta. Erdogan will arrive accompanied by a large delegation made up of cabinet ministers, including the foreign minister, MPs and business representatives. They are set to meet Romanian entrepreneurs to identify further opportunities for business and solutions for increased trade. Erdogan last visited Romania when he was prime minister, in October 2007.
Businessman Sergiu Lucinschi, son to the former president of the Republic of Moldova, 1997 to 2001, Petru Lucinschi, is appearing in front of the High Court of Cassation and Justice alongside an organized crime police officer, facing for 30 days preventive arrest. Lucinschi was detained on Monday night by anti-corruption prosecutors for blackmail and influence peddling. The officer is accused of bribe taking. The businessman is suspected of attempting to extort from a businessman the amount of 4 million Euros in exchange for withdrawing charges of multiple crimes filed against the latter with organized crime police.
